Thursday 11-02-2021 - 14:20

Whether you’re in your first, second, third or even seventh year at Durham, this year has been hard. With constant rule changing and switches from blended learning to online only, it’s been difficult to concentrate on our studies. Communication from the University has been patchy, and as a result it’s been a struggle to plan your lives and studies. This is why we’ve been lobbying for a safety net for your grades, to make sure that you are not unduly affected by circumstances outside of your control. 

The full 'safety net' policy has now been announced by the University. This is what it looks like: 

 

Extensions: You can submit a summative assignment up to seven days after the original deadline without being penalised on your grades. You need to request permission from your department, but this should be granted with no questions asked. If you need further extensions for any other exceptional circumstances on top of this initial seven days, you will need to request these using the normal procedure in your department.  

Deferring your exams: If you feel unable to complete an exam, you can sit the exam at a later date and your resit will count as your first attempt. This means that you can sit your exam at a different point if you are not feeling able to complete your exam to a high standard. You can either notify your department in advance or at any point during the exam that you wish to defer.   

Online SAC forms: If you believe you have been further disadvantaged by the pandemic, or any other circumstances, you can submit a Serious Adverse Circumstances form online via duo. You can do this for any reason, but you may be asked to provide evidence for this. This will not alter your actual grades but could move your overall degree classification for that year.  

5% rule: If you have an average mark that is 5% lower than your average grades in previous years, the Board of Examiners will look at other pieces of work to see whether this lower mark was caused by the pandemic. If they decide this is the case, your marks will be reviewed.

Scaling: All module marks will be compared to the module marks from the last three years, and grades will be changed to reflect how past students did in the same modules.  

Group mitigation grades: If a group has been heavily impacted, for example a large part of a module had to be changed and students may have less knowledge on a certain topic, the examiners will take that into account and mark accordingly.   

For first year students: 

Progressing to second year for first year students: If the Board of Examiners is happy you have met the learning objectives in other areas, you will be able to progress with 40 failed credits, rather than the usual 20 failed credits.   

 

For final year students & PGT students: 

Impact sheets for longer summative work/research projects/dissertations: Students undertaking longer research projects or dissertations will be given an impact sheet to fill out and attach to the project. The impact sheet allows you to note how the pandemic has affected you and your ability to work on the project.    

Discretionary boundaries: For final year students, if your average mark is within 2 percentage points of the next grade boundary, your marks will be reviewed at your department’s Board of Examiners and you could receive a higher degree classification. If you have serious circumstances that could have affected your performance, you could be considered for a higher classsification whatever your final grade. 

 

It’s a long list to get your head around, but together these mitigations cover a variety of circumstances. Whether it’s giving you extra time or reviewing lower marks, the safety net policy will help ensure that your grades won’t suffer unduly due to Covid-19. 

This year has been difficult for everyone, and you should be sure to make use of these mitigations. They are here for all students, because no student should be unfairly disadvantaged by the pandemic. 

As your Academic Officers, this is the belief that we took to the University, when over many hours of meetings, we consistently requested that they release greater mitigations for students. Thank you to everyone who took the time to speak and write to us, we gathered all your concerns and took them to the University, which helped shape the safety net we have now. The University’s final mitigations look different to our original proposal, but we know that they will still make a big difference to students. 

If you have further questions or comments, you can bring these to our open forum with Alan Houston, Vice Provost Education. This will take place on Wednesday 17 February at 17:00 (please register online here), and we would encourage you to come along and let the University know what you think of the policy.  

In the meantime, you can check out the University's FAQs page here and direct any questions to the Vice Provost Education, Alan Houston, at: vp.education@durham.ac.uk  

 

We're here to help. Whatever your question, big or small, the Advice Service is here for you through Covid-19.
📨 email: dsu.advice2@durham.ac.uk
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